Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to address the Taxation of Alternative Fuels Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 and accompanying bills. There are a number of proposals in these bills, but the most striking is the increased tax on LPG. This is a very confusing message that the government are sending to the Australian public on this issue, and it is associated with many confusing messages that the government are sending to the public. The Australian public is really struggling with the consistency. There was a time when the government in the last parliament wanted a Pacific common market but then they did not. They wanted Grocery Watch but then they did not. They wanted to totally take over the health system and now we do not really know what they want to do. I am not sure that they know either, but we can be absolutely certain that they are not taking over the health system in Australia. They wanted to put a tax on all mines but then they did not; they only wanted to put a tax on iron ore and coalmines. Even though we have seen a draft bill, we are still not too sure about what they want to do, but it certainly has not been a consistent line.

There was a time when the government were going to build us a national broadband network for $4½ billion of taxpayers' money but now they are planning to spend $50 billion of taxpayers' money on the NBN. There was a time when they wanted to be soft and cuddly to asylum seekers but now apparently they do not—in fact, they want to send them to Malaysia. That is a pretty confusing message. There was a time when the government were in favour of an ETS but then they were not. It is approaching the 12-month anniversary of the night of the long knives and the minister at the table would well remember that night. In fact, I saw his staff at the front of his office taking a photo of his name because they knew he would be shifting after the night of the long knives. It was a bit embarrassing when I caught them in the corridor.

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